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22nd Nov 2005
Moist
Tuesday 22nd November, 2005
Today, we’re going to be around Canberra. Stuart’s got the day clear and is going to be tour guide, but before we go anywhere, I take advantage of the high-speed access to get weeks backlog of diary and photographs up on to the web page.
We got away at about 11; me driving and Stuart in charge of direction and Anne keeping out of it in the back.
Our first stop off was a work wear shop in order to look at the range of Akubra hats as a means of de-Americanising my image. Sadly, the range extended either side of the size I needed so we took details and moved on. The bookshop was the next stop – several items tempting … but nothing purchased – there’s restraint for you!
And finally, the objective of the day, to the National Art Gallery. Here there is an exhibition of Australian watercolours on show, rather simply and off-puttingly called ‘Moist’ … however once you’ve overcome that little hiccup, there are lots of great images including a couple of Russell Drysdales. Also on display were some pictures by a photographer using a ‘Diana’ camera, the use of which we had discussed with Doug some days ago.
Lunch was a spectacularly healthy affair; perhaps even the beginnings of a diet. I had a pumpkin and feta wrap with a fruit smoothie and a glass of water!!
The day was marching on and we transferred across town to the Botanical Gardens. Lots of birds, some spectacular trees and flowers … and a funeral taking place at the cafe.
We got to stand outside the cage, which holds one of the few specimens of Woolomi Pine – which is the pine tree, which was only discovered a few years ago. Not massively exciting and we only stayed long enough to confirm that it wasn’t possible to get your hands in through the mesh and get a cone!
Loads of birds in the gardens including some very tame rosellas, and we also caught up on things like a yellow robin and a couple of new parrots; I took a few pics. We walked through the various habitats; principally the Australian ones, up to the Eucalypt Lawn and then up Rainforest Gully with its spectacular tree ferns. At about five to five they switched on the automatic sprinkler system and that effectively flushed us out of the rainforest undergrowth in time for the gates to close.
Our final visit of the day was to the Telstra antennae on Black Mountain which after the provision of a few dollars and a lift ride, offers a spectacular view over Canberra and allows the whole leafy area to be put into context.
On the way back down the drive, we could listen to the carawongs beginning to roost in the gum woodland, whistling and calling as they did so.
Back at base we tucked into sausage and mash while Stuart tried to recover from a day on the tourist circuit. We’ve obviously got battle-hardened to it all over the last eight weeks.
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